Commuters may have to endure more service cutbacks in the future as Amtrak is forced to work on other infrastructure at Penn Station New York after it completes repairs currently being made that have reduced rail service by 25 percent.

The track work being done this summer at Penn Station by Amtrak is about half done with one month of work left to do. Now, officials are trying to figure out how to handle future signal, tunnel and electric power work at the busy station.

"We have critical work we want to take care of after this summer," said Chief Engineer Gery Williams Friday. "We will ask our partners at NJ Transit, the MTA and the LIRR for some extended (service) outages, after we've planned for them and determined the need."

His remarks build on what Amtrak officials told New Jersey lawmakers at a hearing last month, that the track replacement being done this summer is only the beginning of work needed to replace the aging Penn Station infrastructure, such as signals, overhead wires, and electric power systems.

"This (work) focuses on tracks. It is just one component," said Michael DeCataldo, Amtrak vice president of operations in July. "This is the start of a very long process."

"We're looking at what comes next. That would be next year and and it depends on what we can do on weekends or using extended outages and that involves feed back from the LIRR, MTA and NJ Transit," Williams said.